At Collingham French is taught by an exceptionally erudite and enthusiastic department, who will nurture both your linguistic skills and cultural expertise. They also have a record of consistently high grades at A level.
French at A Level
The most popular choice of Modern Language, French, is, of course, the coolest and most sophisticated language of all. It has a rigour and clarity foreign to English, a charm and suavity that is the stuff of legends, a plasticity that makes it a pleasure to speak. It is also very useful: France still has an economy than vies with that of the UK and the language competes with English as the lingua franca of much of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Its culture still leads the way in the worlds of fashion and art, the high seriousness of intellectual debate and the shabby grandeur of café bohemia. An A level in French can be combined with any other A level subject. Scientists who can communicate in a foreign language are particularly in demand by employers, but French also sits happily with the Arts and Humanities. It can form the basis of a university course in modern languages or lead to degrees in science, engineering, medicine, social sciences and humanities.
The Course
The A level exams must now be all sat together at the end of the course with the AS as a stand-alone course. As before, all skills of Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking are tested with, if anything, a stronger emphasis on the cultural components. In recent years we have studied Voltaire, Sartre, Camus, Maupassant and Moliere and Zola in literature, as well as the films of Truffaut and the French New Wave.
The French department acquires a regular supply of newspapers and magazines (Le Monde, L’Express, Cahieers du Cinema, Premiere, Elle) and has a good stock of books, audio and DVD resources. Our proximity to the French Institute is a great bonus. In recent years we have worked in tandem with the French lycee on numerous projects and have a good working relationship with the staff there.
Preferred Board: AQA. But we are happy to also do Edexcel and OCR
